Oldboy (2003)
⭐ 7/10
It has this pretty interesting premise. This guy finds himself in a hotel room that is actually a prison, and he has no idea why or for how long, and he has zero human contact. But then, after 15 years, he's set free to try and pick up the pieces. He's hungry, and revenge is on the menu!! So the whole movies is watching him try to figure out who imprisoned him, and why.
I guess my biggest difficulty with this one is not really knowing how to watch Korean movies, especially ones made in 2002 which are further afield from Hollywood than they are today. Honestly, much of this felt like a noir parody, like something made my Michael Scott or Homestar Runner. It's super dramatic and silly, and I'm not really sure if it was trying to be. It's also wildly gritty and dark, and I found myself laughing at it's attempts to be edgy. It was also super confusing and disorienting, but I can pretty confidently say that this was intended.
The whole hook of this movie is the twist ending, which is maybe a minor spoiler in itself. But I knew there was a twist going in, so I guess I had prepared myself for the worst. But in a post-Game-of-Thrones world, there is little I can see on the screen that really shocks me. The twist was pretty exciting, but I can't say I had the same reaction the characters had.
So yeah, kinda a silly movie with an interesting ending that made the rest of the movie make a lot more sense. It was good, and although I kinda felt I'd give this movie a 5-6, I feel like reflecting back helps me appreciate it more. This one is also celebrated as one of the best movies ever made, so there's that. I bet a rewatch would help me understand it a bit, but there's no way I'm putting myself through this movie again.
So yeah, hard to say I "liked" a movie this grotesque and dark, but I can understand why it's become the cult classic it is today. Not really for me, but I'm not mad I watched it.
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